Nursery performance is negatively affected when crowding or reduced floor space increases ear chewing, tail-biting and side-nudging. Crowing often leads to decreased feed intake. Feeder adjustment may work synergistically with adequate floor space to improve pig performance. Reduced crowding is favoured as it increases body weight and therefore increases the net income even with less kg per square foot of pork produced. Proper feeding gap which was when the feeder was at 40% covered with feed reduced the amount of time spent feeding and therefore increased the feeder capacity. Maximum capacity was nine nursery pigs when a 9 mm gap was present or 11 pigs with a 25 or 32 mm gap present.
The Impact of Feeder Adjustment and Group Size and Density on Weanling Pig Performance (full article)
